JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — San Francisco's airport was heavily criticized for its emergency response after Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crashed last year. Since then, we've had questions about our own airport and its emergency response plan. What our Action News investigation revealed should make you feel better about flying in and out of Jacksonville International Airport.
On Asiana Flight 214, three passengers died and nearly 200 were injured. The National Transportation Safety Board discovered multiple airport errors, so Action News wanted to know how JIA's emergency plan compared to San Francisco's.
One major issue investigators found in San Francisco -- crews couldn't communicate with first responders. The Federal Aviation Administration does not require ground crews to operate on the same radio frequency. Michael Stewart with the Jacksonville Aviation Authority said at Jacksonville International Airport, the first responders, airport and other ground crews are on the same 800-megahertz frequency.
"We're capable of interacting with JFRD, city police JSO and the city's emergency operations center," said Stewart.
Action News sat down with Jacksonville University professor of aeronautics and retired pilot Capt. Wayne Ziskal, who says Jacksonville's airport goes a step further in emergency preparedness by having access to the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department's ambulance bus named "Rehab 37". Not even Orlando, Miami or Tampa has an ambulance bus. The FAA doesn't require airports to have the massive response vehicles, but it gives pilots a sense of comfort.
"When the pilot of an airplane declares an emergency, most all the rules go out the window. At that point you're given free rein in the airspace, you can fly and put the plane at whatever airport you choose and you can say I want the crash fire emergency equipment available," said Ziskal.
In October 2013, JIA was evacuated for a bomb scare. Jacksonville Aviation Authority officials say they learn from every incident, but aren't allowed to reveal the specific areas of improvement.
"At a large incident back on Oct. 1 of last year, we found some issues that we had to focus on and we've done that," said Stewart.
Ziskal says consistent review and improvement is the key to JIA remaining at the forefront of emergency response.
"Every time there is an Asiana in San Francisco or a situation anywhere, every airport authority looks at their plan and says what could we do differently," said Ziskal.
JIA also has an extremely detailed ground plan, but we were unable to review it because it was redacted for security purposes.
The airport plans to host a mass-casualty drill on Oct. 1 in an ongoing effort to test and improve crews' emergency response.
WJAX
